Nurses protested a lack of staff at Campbelltown Hospital today
Campbelltown Hospital nurses yesterday protested about a lack of staff numbers which they claim is putting patient care at risk.
Macarthur
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CAMPBELLTOWN Hospital nurses yesterday protested about a lack of staff numbers which they claim is putting patient care at risk.
Nurses gathered at Park Central, outside the hospital, wearing red armbands as part of a larger push from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association to increase staff numbers at hospitals across the state.
Campbelltown Hospital nurse Anna Halls said local staff were under increasing pressure as the number of hospital visitations increased.
Ms Halls said the NSW Government needed to follow the lead of other State Governments and introduce a nurse-to-patient ratio.
Queensland hospitals have a one-to-four ratio for nurses to patients on morning and evening shifts.
“At the moment I would say we have one nurse to every six patients, particularly in the evenings,” Ms Halls said.
“There has been a 6.5 per cent increase in people coming to the emergency department and a birthrate 5.8 per cent higher compared to last year at Campbelltown.
“Yet there has been no increase in staff.
“Staff are tired and running around trying to attend to too many people. It’s putting patient safety at risk.”
Ms Halls said when a nurse called in sick they would often be replaced by a staff member who wasn’t qualified to do the same work.
“When you lose a registered nurse they bring in an assistant in nursing,” she said.
“That’s can be an added stress because they are not able to complete the same tasks and in some cases you spend more time making sure they are doing things right.”
Camden and Campbelltown hospitals general manager Alison Derrett said effective staffing in nursing and midwifery was about placing the right number of staff in the right place at the right time and, adjusting staffing to meet activity and patient complexity.
“The nursing workforce at Campbelltown has grown by about 7 per cent in the past two years, while across the South West Sydney Local Health District it has increased by more than 20 per cent between March 2011-June 2017,” she said.
“In 2018, Camden and Campbelltown hospitals welcomed 55 new graduate nurses and midwives and the ED has received nursing enhancements in the last year with more planned in 2018-2019 financial year.”
The NSW Government says it’s investing a record $21.6 billion in health services across NSW
representing an almost $1 billion increase over the 2016-17 budget.
“At Campbelltown Hospital, $632 million has been invested in our stage two redevelopment
which will include an expanded emergency department, new paediatric service, additional
intensive care beds and enhanced mental health care,” Ms Derrett said.
“This funding follows on from the initial $134 million stage one redevelopment, which saw the construction of a new multistorey clinical services building.
“The emergency department has received nursing enhancements in the last year with more planned for the 2018- 2019 financial year.”